Tag: Grilling

It’s probably no surprise that if you ask Bobby Flay to choose between a burger and a hot dog, he’ll probably laugh and expect you to know better. But if given the choice between barbecue chicken and steak — what do you think he’d say?

Of all the wonderful fruit that comes into season during the summer months, apricots are my very favorite. It hasn’t always been this way. When I was growing up, it was nearly impossible to find truly good apricots unless they came from someone’s backyard tree. As those were pretty darn hard to come by back then, I spent most of my formative years eating terrible, mealy grocery store apricots.

Five or six years back, I discovered just how good a locally grown, never-refrigerated apricot can be. Because I know their season is short, I always order at least half a bushel from one of my local growers. (I get the seconds, because they’re so much cheaper and really, who cares about a few bruises and blemishes?)

Once those apricots are in my kitchen, I spend the next week finding ways to use them up. I make jam. I make chutney. I can them in halves in honey syrup. I eat the ripest ones in just a couple greedy slurps. Once I’ve done all my favorite things, there are still more apricots to be used. That’s when I start digging through my collection of apricot recipes, looking for other things that are begging to be made.

You can smell it in the air: millions of long-dormant grills being lit in observance of the rites of warm weather, bright sunshine and long days. ‘Tis the season when our nation smells of wood smoke. ‘Tis summer: the happiest time of year, as far as I’m concerned.

This time of year is also the most delicious. I am 100-percent convinced that nothing served in any restaurant ever tastes as good as food that you, yourself, cook outdoors with friends on a sunny day. Nothing. No competition. This is not to say that everything that comes off a grill is perfect. The experience, however, is perfect, replete, enough.

For this month’s cookbook recommendations, I’ve rounded up four books that approach live-fire cooking from a variety of angles — from grilling to barbecue to smoking and everything in between. Some of these, like the Jamisons’ Smoke & Spice, are long-established classics; others, like Adam Perry Lang’s Charred & Scruffed, are relative newcomers well on their way to achieving similar status. All are full of valuable instruction and fantastic recipes. So whether you’re a novice grill jockey or a seasoned backyard pit boss, the following four Food Network Library favorites will have you all fired up this summer.

We challenged two prestigious groups — Choppedjudges and Food Network Star winners — to a summer recipe showdown. All season long, we’ll present head-to-head matchups of mouthwatering summer recipes from each team — from refreshing cocktails to fresh farmers’-market salads to the juiciest backyard burgers. By voting each week here on FN Dish or on our Fan Feed, you’ll determine the winning recipes.

At the end of the summer, the team that tallies up the most wins will celebrate with an all-star Labor Day party menu. Who will prevail as Summer Showdown champion — Star or Chopped?

This week, Guy Fieri and Alex Guarnaschellifire up their grills for a head-to-head chicken showdown. Who grills the better bird? Cast your votes below!

This summer, Food Network’s Grilling Central is packed with recipes for the entire family’s taste buds, boasting the best in burgers, dogs, chicken and more all season long. But with so many recipes, where do you start? Each Friday, FN Dish is giving you a complete menu that is stress-free, and this weekend’s spread features fresh seafood.

With hardly any cleanup involved and far less chance of a lingering fish scent in your kitchen, grilling seafood outdoors is a fast, simple way to add a new level of flavor to your favorite dishes. The key to successfully grilling seafood is working with fish and shellfish that hold up well to high heat, like meaty salmon and swordfish, as they’re hefty enough to withstand the flames without falling apart. If you’re new to grilling fish, start with Ina’s Asian Grilled Salmon (pictured above), a top-rated classic that is ready to eat in fewer than 35 minutes. She first marinates the fish in a bold mixture of mustard, soy sauce and garlic, then quickly grills it over charcoal to turn out flaky results. Perhaps the best part of Ina’s go-to dinner is its flexibility; the salmon can be enjoyed when it’s still warm from the grill or later, either at room temperature or chilled from the refrigerator.

You don’t need a special basket to grill vegetables. Just slice them on the bias to expose more surface area — this prevents pieces of skinny vegetables like zucchini or yellow squash from falling through the grate, and it lets more of the vegetable come in contact with both your marinade and the grill.

We challenged two prestigious groups — Choppedjudges and Food Network Star winners — to a summer recipe showdown. All season long, we’ll present head-to-head matchups of mouthwatering summer recipes from each team — from refreshing cocktails to fresh farmers’-market salads to the juiciest backyard burgers. By voting each week here on FN Dish or on our Fan Feed, you’ll determine the winning recipes.

At the end of the summer, the team that tallies up the most wins will celebrate with an all-star Labor Day party menu. Who will prevail as Summer Showdown champion — Star or Chopped?

This summer, Food Network’s Grilling Central is packed with recipes for the entire family’s taste buds, boasting the best in burgers, dogs, chicken and more all season long. But with so many recipes, where do you start? Each Friday, FN Dish is giving you a complete menu that is stress-free, and this weekend’s spread features nontraditional burgers made with chicken and seafood.

Traditional beef burgers are, of course, a summer classic, but when the old standby proves predictable and perhaps even boring, it’s time to look to other between-the-bun creations to dress your grilling menu. Swapping in ground chicken, turkey or pork instead of everyday beef delivers the same meaty bite you’re used to, but it also offers new tastes and textures. Seafood, too, works well in patty form, especially when you pair it with complementary toppings.

Food Network Magazine lets family-friendly fish shine in its Perfect Salmon Burgers, a top-rated dish made moist and flavorful, thanks to a binding mixture of mustard, mayonnaise, lemon juice and breadcrumbs. Serve these dressed-up fish sandwiches as you would a seafood dinner: with a topping of creamy tartar sauce for the most tried-and-true taste.

Dry, flavorless chicken. It’s something that every backyard griller has faced at one point or another in his or her outdoor cooking career. Once it happens, even an easygoing home cook will start taking extreme measures to ensure that future grilled chicken stays moist.

Some swear by an overnight rest in a seasoned salt brine (much like what is recommended for Thanksgiving turkeys). Others choose to perch a whole chicken atop an open can of beer, thinking that the vapors help keep the bird tender. Truly, there are enough dry rubs, soy-based marinades and tangy sauces out there to fill a small stadium.

Thanks to Alex Guarnaschelli, however, and her recipe for Yogurt Marinated Grilled Chicken with Harissa, I’ve discovered that you don’t need any of that stuff. All it takes to make a gorgeously tender and burnished grilled chicken is a sturdy pair of kitchen shears, a little bit of yogurt, a few spices and some steady, indirect heat. She also includes a recipe for homemade harissa (a spicy sauce with roasted red peppers as its base) that makes this chicken positively dreamy. The whole thing is easy, nearly foolproof and just perfect for The Weekender.

Pork chops aren’t just for the frying pan. A thick pork chop, bone-in or -out, can be just as juicy as any burger when you cook it on the grill. What you need is a good rub (to be delicious) and skewer (to be a hit with the kids).

Our three kids were all born in Italy, where a summertime staple is arrosticini, small cubes of meat (usually lamb) on a skewer, seasoned with nothing but olive oil, salt and the occasional sprig of rosemary. The flavor is delicious, the technique is fun and kids love them for both of those reasons.

Recreating that dish was one of the first things we did when we moved back to the United States this spring, and pork chops do the trick. Use a rub of 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon dried or fresh thyme and 1/4 teaspoon pepper for the whole chops and for one diced up for the kids.